A 31-year-old local woman reported to the Judiciary Police (PJ) on December 1, 2020 that she had fallen for an online dating and investment scam, resulting in a loss of about HK$230,000, PJ spokesman Lou Chan Fai said during a regular press conference on Monday.
The victim told the police that she was persuaded by a “man”, with whom she had developed a romantic online relationship through a social media platform, to purchase virtual currency worth about 140,000 patacas via an online trading platform, according to Lou, who added that after being told that she could get returns from the investment, the victim transferred another HK$90,000 to a designated Hong Kong bank account provided by the trading platform’s purported customer service to buy more virtual currency.
Lou pointed out that the victim failed to get back the capital she invested in the virtual currency after she realised that the trading platform had ceased operating.
Based on the bank account transaction information, the Judiciary Police identified the suspect as a jobless Hong Kong woman, who was later arrested at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB) checkpoint on Sunday, Lou said.
According to Lou, although the 48-year-old suspect surnamed Choi refused to reveal any details about the scam, the Judiciary Police confirmed that she had received the victim’s money.
Choi was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Monday, facing a fraud charge involving a considerable amount of money.
The Judiciary Police are continuing to track down other possible suspects involved in the case and the whereabouts of the money, according to Lou.
3 people cheated out of 4.4 million patacas in phone scam: police
Meanwhile, Lou said during the press conference that three people were cheated out of a total of 4.4 million patacas in separate phone scams by purported police officers and government officials.
According to Lou, a female mainland student studying in Macau recently reported to the Judiciary Police that she had received a call from a “customer service employee” of “SF Express Macau”, who told her in Putonghua that she was suspected of being involved in money laundering, as a large number of bank cards and documents were found in a package addressed to her. The victim added that the call was then transferred to the “Shanghai Public Security Bureau”, requesting her to raise 800,000 yuan from her parents as bail for the criminal case, and remit the money to their designated account within three days. After transferring the money, she discovered that information about a phone scam posted online was very similar to her own experience so she called the police, Lou said.
Lou added that a 29-year-old local man and a 47-year-old local woman separately reported to the Judiciary Police that they had received calls from “Macau Post and Telecommunications Bureau (CTT) officials” and “Customs officers” respectively, telling them that they were involved in crimes and requesting information about their respective funds, resulting in losses of 610,000 patacas and HK$3 million respectively.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai look on during Monday’s regular press conference at the Public Security Police (PSP) headquarters in Zape. – Photo: William Chan
